


Fear and Family

by kuki



Series: Keith and Lance Start a Family [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Keith (Voltron), Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Light Angst, M/M, Male Lactation, Marriage Proposal, Mating Bond, Omega Lance (Voltron), Post Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-08 04:43:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19863685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuki/pseuds/kuki
Summary: Keith is so scared of losing those he loves the most, but he has to keep it together. He finally has that family he didn't know he wanted, and he's never going to let go.





	Fear and Family

Keith owed Lance more than he could ever say. He'd helped him through so many things - without even knowing it - just by being himself. A fear of intimacy, his drinking, PTSD from years of abuse and abandonment. So many things he never talked to Lance about that he isn't sure he could've gotten over without Lance. And the things he did knowingly help with. His GED and helping him get an actual job.

"Can I see it?" Shiro's - his mom leaned in the doorway of the bedroom.

He looked up from the small velvet box in his hands. Another thing he had to thank Lance for. If it wasn't for Lance's encouragement to reach back out to his parents, his mom wouldn't be there right now. She and Lance's mom had forced him out of the hospital, to get himself together and get Lance’s stuff. After a shower and food, he really did feel better. And after the two of them fought the doctors and nurses to be able to go back and see their grandbabies, his children were getting the loving contact they needed.

"Takashi mentioned that you've had that for a while." She smiled at him.

He smiled back at her as he handed it over. She opened it and her smile grew. "He's going to love it."

"Thanks... Mom." He took it back and looked at the contents. His smile waivered. He couldn't do this without Lance. "I'm scared."

"Oh. Sweetheart. Lance, the twins, they're going to be alright. Your family is going to alright." She pulled him into a tight hug. "Come on let's get back."

"I need to finish packing his bag. I... I should've had it packed before but..."

"Keith. It's going to be okay." She kissed his forehead. "You have done everything you could, and you are going to be a great father and husband. I'm so proud of you."

"You have no idea how much it means to hear that, especially from you." He wiped his eyes as he turned away from her.

While he finished packing, he put the box in the bag with the rest. He was ready to get back to his mate and his children.

Lance was still unconscious when he got back into the room. His mom started getting up from the chair as he came in.

"It's okay. I'm going to go see the twins for a few minutes before I sit with him again." Keith dropped the bag by the end of the bed. He brushed Lance's hair back with a smile. "Any changes?"

"He stirred for a little, mumbled your name, asked for the twins, but didn't actually wake up yet." Lance's mom smiled at them. "Where's your mom?"

"She went to drop her and my dad's stuff off at Shiro's apartment. She'll be back in a bit." Keith pressed a kiss to Lance's forehead.

“As far as I know, your dad is with your daughter and both Shiro and Marco used their charms to get back to see your son at the same time.” She smiled at him softly.

“Okay, thank you. I’ll be back soon, you’ll-…”

“I’ll still be here with him.” She took his hand in between hers. “Go, spend time with your children. He’ll be here when you get back, and if he wakes up, he’ll understand. He’ll be _happy_ that you’re with them.”

Keith nodded pulling his hand away. He left the room, with one long glance at his mate. Their bond was strong, he could feel Lance’s heartbeat like he was laying against his chest. Lance was going to be okay; he was just overly exhausted from the traumatic birth. It didn’t stop him from worrying.

But he promised he’d focus on his kids for just a bit at least. He might’ve heard the news say something about the boy needing skin to skin contact, so he might get a chance to hold his son. It would be a while before anyone could hold his daughter though.

His dad was holding his daughter’s tiny hand in her incubator, talking in hushed tones when Keith walked up next to him.

“Hey. Thank you for sitting with her.” Keith put his hand on his dad’s shoulder as he stared at his daughter, so small and fragile looking.

“She’s beautiful son, but so tiny. But she’s going to be okay. I can tell, she’s strong, like her dad.” His dad didn’t look up at him, but gave the baby’s hand a small squeeze before starting to stand up. “You should sit with her. I’m going to go check in with your mother.”

Keith nodded, his eyes still on the tiny baby, almost too small to be a baby.

Now the hand was on his shoulder, and he looked his father in the eyes. He was looking at him seriously. “Keith, you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be great. You’re so much more than the kid you were when we took you in, and you are ready for this, even if you don’t think you are.”

“Thank you, I… I think I might actually be starting to believe that.” Keith smiled at him, waiting for him to walk away before he looked back at his daughter.

He lowered himself into the chair and reached for his daughter’s hand. He had no idea what to say to her, but he started rambling. Lance rambled enough, so he had some idea how to do it, but he couldn’t quite do it like his mate.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, but he finally looked away when a nurse came by to check on his daughter. It was his cue to move over to see his son, after talking to the nurse about his daughter’s condition. They had a better understanding of the treatment she would need, and while it sounded even worse than when the doctor had initially told him, the nurse seemed hopeful. Keith tried to be hopeful too.

When he entered the section his son was in, he could hear Shiro and Marco, a few nurses were glaring in their direction. He walked over to them, seeing his brother holding the baby, on his forearm.

“Shiro. Marco.” Keith held his hands out. “Stop playing football with him, and give me my baby.”

“We were-…” Marco started as Shiro pouted at him.

“Oh, I’m well aware how you threw Miguel when he was a baby, which is why Veronica doesn’t let you even hold Tomas.” Keith rolled his eyes, staring down Shiro.

Huffing, Shiro handed over the baby.

Keith took him, position him in his arms carefully. He was so light, so much lighter than Tomas was the first time he held him – the first time he’d ever held a baby. The boy blinked up at him and Keith smiled down at him.

“Hey there. Don’t worry, I won’t let your uncles throw you around until your bones fuse a little more.”

“Oh, so we’re allowed to throw him? Just not around the NICU?” Shiro pinched his eyebrows together.

“Kids love to be thrown Shiro, just wait until he’s a little older, he’ll be so much fun.” Marco nudged him with a smile. “Damn, I still can’t get over how small he is.”

“You should see his sister, she’s even smaller.” Keith bounced slightly, holding his son closer. “Lance is going to be so upset when I tell him we can’t take them home right away.”

“How is he? Still out cold?” Marco moved a little closer, gently adjusting the baby in Keith’s arms.

“Yeah. Your mom said that he mumbled a couple of things, but he didn’t really wake up.”

“You should be with him. We have this covered.” Shiro put a hand on his arm, smiling at him.

“No. They’re… they’re my kids, I want to spend a little time with them.” Keith looked up at the two older men finally. “I really appreciate what everyone is doing, to make sure they’re not alone, but I… I wish I could be everywhere at once right now…”

“Hey, Keith, bud, don’t cry. It’s going to be alright.” Shiro brushed his hair out of his face for him. “You’ll get to bring them home, all three of them.”

“And it’s no problem Keith. You’re family, they’re family. We are happy to spend time with them, and we all understand how many ways you’re being pulled.”

“You’re no good to anyone if you wear yourself out. You have so many people here, ready to take up your slack.”

“Uh oh… I think he’s going to cry…” Marco put his hands up defensively. “I’m famously bad with crying.”

“Keith?”

“It’s okay. Why don’t you guys go take a break? I just kind of want to sit with him alone for a little bit.” Keith moved to sit in the chair slowly, watching his son to make sure he didn’t jostle him. “Once I go sit with Lance, I’m not leaving until he wakes up.”

“You sure you’re going to be okay, Keith?”

“Yeah Shiro, I’ll be fine, go.”

*-*-*-*-*-*

There was a nurse checking on Lance when Keith walked in, she was talking quietly with Lance’s mom. He paused not wanting to interrupt, but they both looked over at him.

“Ah, there he is.” Lance’s mom got out of the chair and walked over to him. “I’m going to head home for the night. I’ll be back tomorrow, but text me when he wakes up and call me if something happens.”

“Oh, yeah, sounds good. Thank you for staying with him so long.” Keith smiled at her.

“Of course sweet heart.” She hugged him tightly. “Take care of yourself, and take care of him.”

Keith just nodded, watching her as she left.

“Sir, you’re his husband?” The nurse asked a few moments after Lance’s mother left.

He turned to her with a frown. “Uh, no. I’m the father, and we’re bonded, but we’re not legally…”

“Oh. Are you… did he sign something for you to fill out paperwork for him? A lot was pre-filled, but he was early there’s… and usually we only let legal spouses stay after visiting hours…”

“Yeah, he did, and please, I can’t… I can’t leave him. I… I don’t want him to wake up alone, scared about the babies. I just…”

“It’s alright, sir. I’ll go get the paperwork, and just make sure the rest of the overnight staff know that you’ll be in here, and that you’re okay to stay in here. Just don’t go wandering around.” She put a hand on his wrist with a smile. “The NICU visiting policy is a lot more strict, so if you wanted to…”

“I can wait until the morning to see them again. I just want to be here for my mate right now.” Keith stared at Lance’s still sleeping for. “How is he? How is he, really?”

“He’s fine, considering. Just completely exhausted, we took him off sedative hours ago so this is just natural sleep.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Of course.”

When she came back with paperwork, it was a nice distraction from the storm inside his head. Filling out what he’d come to learn as Lance’s medical history, all of their shared billing information. Signing his name, over and over again.

The birth certificates, signed by the doctor with the date and time, his and Lance’s names, but needed the children’s names. He wouldn’t fill that out without Lance, because as much as they discussed it, he didn’t want to mess it up.

He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, hunched over awkwardly with his head on the bed, next to Lance’s hip, and he didn’t know what time it was when he woke up, but that wasn’t important.

“Keith?” Lance’s voice was what pulled him out of his weary sleep, a weak grip on his hair.

Keith turned his head to smile at Lance, blinking the sleep from his eyes. “Hey. You’re awake.”

“I-I… The babies…?”

Sighing, Keith moved so he was sitting on the bed, hovering over his partner. “They’re both okay. They’re in the NICU, since they came so early. And… she… there were some complications with our daughter, so they’ll have to keep her longer, do some procedures, but she’ll be okay. They both need to just… cook a little more.”

Lance reached up, gripping onto Keith’s arms, tears coming to his eyes. “I-I…”

“Hey, hey, calm down okay. You went through a really traumatic birth, you need to rest.” Keith soothed Lance’s hair back. It was slightly stiff with sweat. “You had me so worried.”

“I can’t go see them?” Lance sobbed as he closed his eyes.

“Not until they let you out of this bed.” Keith leaned forward and rested his forehead against Lance’s. “Our family has been keeping them company while you were sleeping and I’ve been trying to keep it together.”

“But I want… they’re my babies, and I…” Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s shoulders.

“I know, I know.” Keith shushed him. “But you’re no good to them if you don’t take care of yourself.”

“Why does it sound like you’re quoting someone else?” Lance whined.

“Both our mothers and brothers may have said something similar to me when I was freaking out earlier.” Keith let out a dry laugh.

Lance huffed out a chuckle, and then an ‘ow’.

“You okay?”

“Hurts to laugh…”

“They had to cut you open to get our little girl out, and your muscles are probably shot from pushing out our son.” Keith pulled back slightly and soothed down his sides. “I should probably get a nurse since you’re up.”

Lance grumbled something, probably about Keith not leaving him.

“I’m not going far, I promise.” Keith pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Better not.”

Keith sat in the chair, observing as the nurse checked Lance, and told him, with a little more medical jargon, what was going on. More details were promised for the morning when his doctor came back in, in the morning.

But for what he went through, Lance was in good shape. They were lucky.

Once the nurse was gone, and after not a small amount of begging, Keith crawled onto the small bed with Lance. He should’ve smelled back, and Keith guessed he technically did, but their bond and his alpha instincts was only registering that his omega had just given him a liter.

Lance keened as Keith nuzzled into the bond mark. “Hey, careful…”

“Sorry, just… wanted to smell you.” Keith moved his face away. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too Keith.” Lance pressed his lips to Keith’s. “Alpha.”

Keith smiled as he rested his head down. “Hey, Lance.”

“Yeah?”

“We have our kids now, and we’re bonded, but…” Keith closed his eyes, tightening his grip on the omega slightly. “I can ask properly later, if you want me to, but… will you marry me?”

“Oh, Keith… are you…”

“One hundred percent serious. I have the ring, and a chain for it if you’re still to swelled for it to fit.”

“Keith, of course, yes. A thousand times yes. I want to marry the fuck out of you.”

Keith’s smile was interrupted by another kiss.

“You should get some sleep. You look exhausted.”

“You still look tired too.” Keith yawned.

“I gave birth to both of your babies today, I’m so tired.” Lance laughed again with an ‘ow’. “We should both get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, love.” Keith moved one of his hands to the bond mark.

“Sleep well.” Lance’s hand made it way onto the scar on Keith’s shoulder too.

It didn’t take them long for them both to drift back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be smut in this series again, someday. But not immediately after traumatic childbirth.


End file.
